Water motor



. Nov. 24 1925- @www Patented Nov. 24, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,562,506 PATENT OFFlCE.

BROOKS O. JENKINS, OF BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR OF 'ONE-HALF TO A.H. STOCKMAR AND ONE-HALF TO ROBT. L. STEADHAM, BOTH OF BIRMINGHAM, ALA-BAMA.

WATER MOTOR.

Application filed April 28, 1924. Serial No. 709,674.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BROOKS O. JENKINS, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State ofAlabama, have i11- vented certain new and useful Improvements in WaterMotors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in water motors and its objectsare to design a motor which can be cheaply constructed and in which thestream of Water .is so conducted and directed against the moving bladesthat I am enabled to obtain the maximum efficiency from the motor andthe maximum power per unit of flow of the current.

One object of my invention is to mount the blades so that their innerbevelled edges, in operating position, stand close to a hollow flaringdrum which is given a considerable diameter so as to increase theleverage of the blades. In connection with this central drum support Iprovide a flume, the inner bulkhead of which is brought at a tangent tothe edge of the drum so that the full force of the water isconcentratedat a point well spaced from the axis of the power shaft anddirected against each blade as it swings to operating position in theflume. To increase the efficiency of the motor, I prefer to mount theblades in pairs on op posite sides of the drum, each pair of bladesbeing set at an angle of 90O to each other and rigidly connected to acommon shaft which is free to turn in the drum.

My invention further comprises the details of construction andarrangement of parts, which in their preferred embodiments arehereinafter more particularly described and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which Fig. l1 is a plan View of my improvedmotor and flume.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view on the line 3 3, Fig. 1.

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

According to my invention as illustrated, I provide a flume for thewater to drive the water wheel by means of bulkheads and 11, thebulkhead 10 having a curved portion 12 which is opposite to and concen-F tric with a drum 13 having connected cen trally to its upper head avertical shaft 14 through which power is transmitted from the waterwheel. The drum isl in the form of a truncated cone of considerablediameter and its inner periphery is disposed so that the bulkhead 11 issubstantially tangential to the side wall thereof opposite the bulkhead12 so that the water in the flume is caused to flow directly and withoutany cross currents or eddies into the space between' the drum andbulkhead 12. The drum 13 is provided with an inverted cup bearing member15 which turns on an antifriction ball 16 mounted in a bearing plate 17which is telescoped by the bearing membei' 15 on the drum. Thisarrangement is preferable as best adapted to protect the antifrictionelement from mud or dirt. The bearing 17 is made fast to any suitablefoundation (not shown) in the bed o-f the stream. I connect to the drum13 a series of paddle shafts 18, preferably three in number, which arepassed diametrically through the drum and spaced equi-distantly and oneslightly above the other so that they will clear each' other where theyintersect the center of the drum. The drum is provided with internalbosses or like devices to afford substantial bearing for the shafts 18.On each end of a shaft I mount a blade 19, which blades are made fastthereon by rivets or other suitable fastenings and are disposed at anangle of 90 to each other. The inner edges of the blades are bevelled toconforinto the taper of the drum. The drum near the bottom thereof isprovided with a series of lugs 20 which project a short distance fromthe drum and which are arranged so that one of these lugs serves toengage the lower inner corner of a blade when the latter swings downinto vertical operating position in the flume. On the rear side of thebulkhead 11 I provide a guide 21 which is curved and provided at one endwith an inclined surface 22 while at the other end it abuts the bulkhead11 at a point opposite a notch 23 therein.

In operation, as each blade 19 swings so that its inner edge clears thebulkhead 11, it drops down from horizontal to vertical position andtakes the full thrust of the stream of water flowing through the flumeand such thrust is imparted from the drum to the shaft 14. 'Ihe swingingmovement of the blade in the fiume to verof the bulkhead 11, withbevelled blades, I

cause the blades to drop down more quickly into the flume as thebevelledinner edge of the blade will permit it to drop from the bulkhead1l at an earlier position than Would be the case if the blades inneredge were squared olf. By this means I am enabled to drop one blade intoposition to be acted upon by the Water deflected by the bulkhead 1lWhile the pressure of the direct flowing Water along the bulkhead 10 isstill maintained on the preceding fblade. This is indicated by thearrows in Fig. 1 and givesme the maximum utilization of the concentratedflow inV the fiume.

The utilization of the drum of large diameter is the most importantfeature as it makes possible ther concentrating ofl the stream of Waterupon the blades While maintaining them sufticiently spaced from thecenter of the drive shaft to give them a considerable leverage.

This application is a refiling of the former application Serial 865,536,filed October 13, 1914, and Which has been abandoned.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

v In a Water motor, a power' shaft, a frusto conical drum connected tosaid shaft and disposed With vits smaller end uppermost, a plurality oftransverse horizontal axes passed through the drum, blades rigidlymounted on the ends of said shafts and having their inner edges bevelledto correspond with the angle of the drums Wall, the blades on the endsof each shaft being set at right angles to each other, a flume having atone side a diagonal wall tangential to the drum which extendssubstantially from top to bottom of the flume, means to guide the idleblades over the diagonal Wall of said flume, their bevelled edgespermitting them to more quickly clear said flume Wall, and means toarrest the blades in vertical position as they swing down under pressureof the Water in said fiume, said blades When under Water pressure beingdisposed with their inner edges close to the periphery of the drum.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

BROOKS O. JENKINS.

